


A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts

by sewn



Category: The Shannara Chronicles (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e08, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:08:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23820577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sewn/pseuds/sewn
Summary: Whatever her father claims, Mareth cannot see love as a weakness.
Relationships: Allanon & Mareth (Shannara)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	A thing isn't beautiful because it lasts

**Author's Note:**

> A take on the scene where Allanon and Mareth talk about Pyria while he's recovering.

”Now leave me. I need to —”

A coughing fit interrupted her father’s words. A flash of worry laced Mareth’s anger, and she rushed to his bedside, barely taking his cup from his hands before he dropped it. Cup set on the table, she took his shaking hand.

”Breathe,” she said as calmly as she could. ”Slowly. In… and out.” She squeezed his fingers, hoping it would help him concentrate on something else. ”Does it hurt?”

Allanon shook his head, eyes tightly shut.

”It’s alright,” he clearly forced out. ”You really should leave me.”

Half of her truly wanted to flee his company. She almost couldn’t bear to see his face now, his hurtful words still ringing in her ears.

”No,” she said tightly. ”No one else has time to watch over you. We can’t have you choking to death just because no one was around to help you.”

Allanon opened his red-rimmed eyes and looked into hers. ”I would rather not —”

”Neither do I.” She let go of his hand. ”But like you said, this is bigger than our feelings. You can deal with having to look at me for a little longer.”

”Mareth —”

She stood up, shaking her head. She didn’t want to hear any more protests. If there was something she knew how to do it was shouldering bullshit. ”You can sleep. Or not. I can study the Codex, I won’t bother you.”

Allanon sighed, apparently too weak to resist any more. His face still had a deathly pallor to it, but his breathing was even.

Mareth sat on the other bed, crosslegged, with the heavy tome. She had not explained to Allanon how she knew how to read it; she wondered if he knew, if he had read it in her mind. In fact, he must have been reading her mind right now. That was an unnerving thought, especially now that it was just the two of them.

She hoped Wil was alright, and Eretria as well. She had come to like the Rover girl quickly even though they had known each other only for a few days. What they were doing was dangerous—she tried not to think about how she might not see Wil ever again, it was no use worrying. Besides, she somehow had this feeling that everything would turn out exactly like it was supposed to…

”Your mind is restless.”

Allanon’s voice interrupted her.

”I thought you wanted to sleep,” she said, too snippy perhaps, and closed the book.

”It isn’t easy in the company of someone so —”

”What, _emotional_?”

Allanon shook his head. ”Mareth, please, do not take everything I say as a criticism.”

She looked down at her lap, fingers following the edges of the metal decorations covering the Codex. Her eyes were burning again. Damn her quick temper.

”I don’t wish to see you cry,” he said, more softly. ”You don’t need to linger here if it causes you discomfort.”

Mareth blinked back more tears. The thing was, she didn’t know what she wanted. It was true he angered her—his disdain of love, as he claimed—but at the same time, she wanted to spend time with him. Not just for teaching purposes. He was her dad, and she had meant it when she said that it was important to her. Maybe he didn’t return that exact feeling, but he could have respected her and not simply pushed her away.

”I merely want you not to get hurt.” He spoke again.

”I wish you stopped doing that,” she said, wiping her eyes. ”Reading my mind. And besides, you can’t control whether other people hurt inside.”

She got up from the bed again. She didn’t want to talk like this if she couldn’t see his face.

”Do you really think you can stop love?” She sat down on his bed carefully. ”Or that it is not worth it if it doesn’t last?” When she thought about it, she couldn’t bear to think it would be wrong to connect with people even if you knew you’d only share time with them for a year or two, druid sleep or not. Should the sick and the old cut themselves off from the world?

”I’ve never known it not to hurt,” he said, sounding unsure, somehow young. Mareth’s heart ached at that.

”Well,” she said, ”Me either. Believe me, I’ve been through it more than once.” She thought of the past lovers she’d had. ”But it doesn’t mean it was worthless. Maybe it’s selfish if you know it beforehand, but all you can do is be honest about it. Other people will choose to accept it, or not.”

It was a scary thought, he wasn’t wrong about that—that she would share only a little time with someone she deeply cared about. But if people truly loved each other…

”You shouldn’t be afraid to hurt,” she said, almost a whisper. She wasn’t even sure if she knew how to do that herself, but she wanted to believe it was true.

Allanon looked down. She realized she’d reached to touch his hand that was resting on the bedding.

”We can talk about this later,” he said, but it didn’t sound like a rejection anymore. ”If you don’t mind. It is simply easier for a druid to recover without anyone’s company.”

Mareth was suddenly filled with new questions about druid magic, but she bit her tongue.

”Okay,” she said, squeezing his hand for one last time, smiling just a little. ”I’ll hold you to that.”


End file.
